Arthur and University President

Robert Phillip Bomboy, 83, of Danville, passed away peacefully at his residence Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024.

He was born March 23, 1941, in Kingston, the son of the late Robert Carolus and Lenore May (Lloyd) Bomboy.

A 1959 graduate of Kingston High School in Kingston, and Wilkes College, he was an alumnus of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University and a fellow of the Ford Foundation at the University of Chicago and in Washington, D.C.

He taught English and journalism at colleges and universities for more than 30 years.

Over the course of his life, he was widely published in national magazines and was the author of six books, including the 2007 war novel "Smart Boys Swimming in the River Styx." He was a weekly columnist on national affairs for three Pennsylvania newspapers.

As chairman of the Montour County Recreation Authority, he broke ground for the Danville Area Community Center.

He was a longtime member of the Pennsylvania Kiwanis Foundation and a founder of the Kiwanis Children's Heart Center in the Janet Weis Children's Hospital at Geisinger Medical Center.

Thousands of children and parents knew him as the founder and director of the weekly Saturday Trains model-railroad program at Christ Memorial Episcopal Church in Danville, where he was a former member of the vestry and a church warden.

He and his wife, the former Mary Ellen Kerwin of Wilkes-Barre, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2021, six months before she passed. They are reunited in God's Eternal Glory.

He is survived by four children, Tara Bomboy Zukosky of Shavertown, Molly Bomboy Jacks of Riverside, Robert D. Bomboy of Boiling Springs, and David James Price of Kingston, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Rite of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 3, at Christ Memorial Episcopal Church, 156 E. Market St., Danville, with the Rev. Lisa Works officiating. Friends will be received from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2, at Visneski Funeral Home, Inc., 42 W. Mahoning St., Danville.

Burial will be private in St. Mary's Cemetery in Wilkes Barre.

The family will provide flowers. Memorial contributions may be made to The Four Diamonds Foundation of Childhood Cancer at www.fourdiamonds.org

Arrangements are under the direction of Visneski Funeral Home, Inc., Danville. www.visneski.com.